Jayden Hunt

Jayden Hunt (born 3 April 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.87 metres (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb), Hunt plays primarily on the half-back flank with the ability to also play on the wing. He was born into an Australian rules football family with both his great-uncle and uncle playing in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League). He played his final junior football year in school sports and did not play any football at under-18 level. Despite this, he was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with the fifty-seventh selection in the 2013 AFL draft. After persistent injuries in his first two years, he made his AFL debut during the 2016 season.

For the Doctors character, see Jayden Hunt (Doctors).

Jayden Hunt
Hunt playing for Melbourne in July 2019
Personal information
Full name Jayden Marie Hunt
Date of birth (1995-04-03) 3 April 1995
Original team(s) Brighton Grammar (APS)
Draft No. 57, 2013 national draft
Debut Round 4, 2016, Melbourne
vs. Collingwood, at MCG
Height 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 29
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014– Melbourne 74 (41)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Hunt was born into a football family with his great uncle, Harold Rumney, playing 186 games in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League) for the Collingwood Football Club and Carlton Football Club, including four premierships with Collingwood between 1927 and 1930; and his uncle, Andrew Moir, played 73 matches for the Melbourne Football Club from 1977–1981.[1] He played under 16 level football with the Hampton Rovers Football Club in 2011[2] before playing school football with Brighton Grammar School.[3] Playing in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) competition during his draft year, he did not play in the TAC Cup or under 18 championships that year.[4] His only representative match for the year was the APS vs. Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) match.[5]

AFL career
Hunt at training in July 2015

Playing just the one representative match for the year, Hunt was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club with their third selection and fifty-seventh overall in the 2013 national draft,[6] he was the only player in the draft to not play any football at under 18-level.[7] He was labelled as the draft smoky[4] and Herald Sun journalist, Sam Landsberger, noted he was "plucked from relative obscurity".[8] After playing the first six matches in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions in 2014,[9] he was sidelined for over a year after suffering from a back injury[10][11][12] and a broken jaw which he injured in June 2015.[13] He returned to the VFL in July[14] and played the remainder of the season including the elimination final loss against Essendon.[15][16]

Hunt had his first uninterrupted pre-season in the lead-up to the 2016 season and played the first two matches of the NAB Challenge.[17][18] He made his AFL debut in the thirty-five point win against Collingwood in round four at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[19] Regarded for his speed,[20][21] he received high praise during his eleventh match in round fifteen against Adelaide, which was described as his break-out match by Fox Sports Australia journalist, Julian De Stoop,[22] and then-Melbourne coach, Paul Roos, stated it was "as good a 12-possession game as [he'd] ever seen".[23] The next week, he recorded a then-career-high twenty-nine disposals and eight inside-50s in the thirty-two point win against Fremantle at TIO Stadium.[24] Despite being eligible for the AFL Rising Star, he entered the final round of the season without a nomination, which caused Paul Roos to criticise the Rising Star process, stating "it would be a travesty if he did not receive a nomination"[25] and proclaim he "could be the best young player in the competition".[26] He ultimately missed out on a nomination, which led to Fox Sports Australia naming him the unluckiest player to miss a nomination.[27] He did not miss a match following his debut and he finished with nineteen matches for the season.[28] His season was rewarded with the Harold Ball Memorial Trophy as Melbourne's best young player,[29] and an eleventh-place finish in the best and fairest count.[30]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season [31]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2014 Melbourne 290——————————————
2015 Melbourne 290——————————————
2016 Melbourne 29193115913729659410.20.18.47.215.63.12.2
2017 Melbourne 29227525414239685690.30.211.56.518.03.93.1
2018 Melbourne 2960249227122140.00.38.23.711.83.72.3
2019 Melbourne 292121101579525277461.00.57.54.512.03.72.2
2020[lower-alpha 1] Melbourne 296102278351071.70.34.51.35.81.71.2
Career 74 41 20 646 404 1050 253 177 0.6 0.3 8.7 5.5 14.2 3.4 2.4

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. Burgan, Matt (17 July 2016). "Hunt's continues football family heritage". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  2. "Salem, Amon and Hunt picked up in AFL Draft". HamptonRovers.com.au. CV Media. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  3. Niall, Jake (1 December 2013). "AFL draftees at top of private school class". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  4. Quayle, Emma (22 November 2013). "Picking through the draft". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  5. "Pick 57: Jayden Hunt". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. "Melbourne's draft haul: recruiter's verdict". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  7. Twomey, Callum (5 November 2015). "Not good enough for TAC Cup, now a draft smokey: Murray in the mix". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  8. Landsberger, Sam (21 November 2013). "Melbourne fills needs by plucking three zippy teenagers at AFL national draft". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  9. "Jayden Hunt—Player Profile". VFL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  10. Burgan, Matt (9 July 2014). "Toumpas, Evans out for four to six weeks". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  11. Burgan, Matt (7 April 2015). "List in good shape for round two: Misson". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  12. Burgan, Matt (22 April 2015). "Frost timeframe slightly longer". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  13. Guthrie, Ben (16 June 2015). "Pedersen, Grimes add to Dees' injury toll". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  14. "Hunt rapt to be back playing". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  15. Burgan, Matt; Lewis, Georgina (10 September 2015). "VFL player review: elimination final". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  16. Ryan, Peter (28 October 2015). "Young Demon Harmes rewarded with senior elevation". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  17. Harrington, Anna (25 February 2016). "Melbourne names first NAB Challenge squad". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  18. Schmook, Nathan (3 March 2016). "NAB Challenge squads: Key Pies back, Bulldogs name Boyd, veteran Kangaroo returns". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  19. Burgan, Matt (14 April 2016). "Hunt set to debut against Pies". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  20. Clark, Jay (15 May 2016). "Melbourne young guns helping Demons rise up the ladder this season". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  21. Ryan, Peter (3 July 2016). "Five talking points: Melbourne v Adelaide". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  22. De Stoop, Julian (15 July 2016). "The players that have made every post a winner in 2016". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  23. Guthrie, Ben (3 July 2016). "Speed Demon draws high praise from Roos". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  24. Twomey, Callum (10 July 2016). "Nine things we learned from round 16". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  25. Australian Associated Press (26 August 2016). "Paul Roos slams AFL Rising Star process". SBS Online. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  26. Guthrie, Ben (26 August 2016). "Speed Demon 'could be the best young player in the comp'". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  27. Harrington, Anna (1 September 2016). "Rhys Mathieson one of five unlucky youngsters to miss out on AFL Rising Star nominations in 2016". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  28. Landsberger, Sam (26 August 2016). "Melbourne coach Paul Roos says Jayden Hunt deserves a Rising Star nomination". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  29. Burgan, Matt (6 September 2016). "Gawn claims two awards on B&F night". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  30. Burgan, Matt (6 September 2016). "Viney edges Jones to win first 'Bluey'". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  31. "Jayden Hunt". AFL Tables. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
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